High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012 - (Page 40)

8 Thermal Comfort: First requirements were to meet LEED frame- The Metrics Challenge One area needing improvement was that of measuring sustainability. For instance, by finding ways to increase the net density of NRDC’s population, the per capita consumption of energy, materials and capital was reduced and yet is not fully reflected in the Btus per square foot metric. The reason is that more people are accommodated per floor. Another challenge is a higher utilization factor (early morning, late evening) at NRDC than is typical in this building type, which also is not accommodated in the traditional building type with kBtus per square foot model. This gets back to one of Buckminster Fuller’s favorite questions: “How a N aT u r a l S e T T i N G full spectrum fuel Type: oil #2 light as applied to the design of nrdC refers to the maximum use of and access to natural daylight throughout the interior. Artificial light cannot reproduce the full electromagnetic spectrum of sunlight that our eyes have evolved to capture. And, most importantly, it does not impart the biological orientation to time of day and season that is inherent in the sun’s daily traverse (circadian rhythm) and seasonal variation in length of day. our responses to the dynamic characteristics of natural light (direction of the source, vertical height, color, duration) and the interaction with passing clouds, weather change, surrounding buildings and the sun’s dramatic rising and setting are all conscious and subconscious connections to not just physical orientation (where we are) but also to temporal orientation (when we are). The greatest misconception in the integration of daylight is the glass-tothe-floor concept of more is better. The provision of controlled light and views at seated eye level, and the reduction of glare and contrast at the exterior wall by redirecting natural light to the upper ceilings (inward sloping preferred), recreate the lighted canopy overhead that we intuitively recognize as natural. The elevator banks and formal conference/ video room are vertically stacked in alignment with the three (in the future) open inter-connecting stairs, which will achieve the maximum sharing/utilization ratios of these facilities. work. Going beyond those metrics, the social circulation spaces (i.e., perimeter wall and interconnectivity stair) will have the most thermal variability and natural light, which works well in a social space where you want sunlight while also achieving a thermal/glare “buffer.” 9 renovation “detox”: The elimi- © Halkin Photography llC W h aT N o T T o D o A survey of green/sustainable projects and workplace environments clarified a range of preferred workplace attributes as well as qualities to be avoided: Sea of Cubicles: A remaining, but declining, efficiency-driven (i.e., no full-height walls at all), egalitarian distribution of larger individual work stations with higher partitions and larger footprints. Better acoustic/visual isolation of workstations, but a “rat maze” of circulation. negatives: isolating; no variation in experience, limited connection to the exterior; too high of a price for limited privacy gains; no real retreat space = lowest Performance in relation to strategic Plan Values. Furniture-on-Wheels: An early response to the desire for flexibility that was undertaken by a number of advertising and creative workplace organizations in the ’90s. negatives: Visual chaos, lack of any boundaries, no sense of domain or personal space, no acoustical privacies, no retreat space = low Performance. Glass-to-Floor and “Fishbowls”: A contemporary design approach to create the sense of maximum daylight and transparency within the work environment while having a degree of acoustical and personal privacy. negatives: Visually distracting, reduced sense of domain or ability to focus on task at hand; acoustic reverberation and loud space; no ability to have functions built in to exterior wall or expand workspace to perimeter wall; physical retreat, but no visual retreat. Performance = net improvement over sea of Cubicles and furniture on Wheels. nation of destructive demolition and reconstruction and spackle/painting/sanding (crystalline silica in pre-existing core walls, respirable particles, etc.) improves the environmental quality of this floor. In addition, the entire building population benefits because air pressure differentials (elevator stack effect, etc.) distribute particulates and vapors throughout the building. The change agent is the screwdriver, not the sledgehammer! 10 Breaking the shell: For NRDC, moving away from private offices as a default for professionals was informed by more than just the requirements for design for disassembly. Rather than small, enclosed air pockets of rooms (which are more vulnerable to a spill or error in paint selection over a weekend), there is a massive and diffusing “commons” of light and air that provides an inherently safer work environment. Importantly, the quantified reduction in “materiality” (the sum total of visible and invisible materials and systems necessary to achieve functionality per person) was dramatic. (See Suburban Model vs. Nature’s Model.) 40 HigH Performing Buildings spring 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012

High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012
Commentary
Contents
Evie Garrett Dennis Campus
Magnify Credit Union South Lakeland Branch
Natural Resources Defense Council
What Makes Buildings High Performing
University of Florida’s William R. Hough Hall
Products
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High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012